Reward Minerals Ltd (ASX:RWD) has lodged an international application under the Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT) for its new Reward Process, claiming priority from Australian Patent Application(s) 20229022771,2.
The international application has been pursued to protect the company’s intellectual property related to the Reward Process for recovery of potassium sulphate (K2SO4 or SOP) directly from concentrated seawater and other high-sulphate brines.
The key benefits of the Reward Process compared to existing technology are:
- No mechanical harvesting of mixed salts prior to processing required;
- no flotation upgrade of mixed salts required; and
- utilises conventional fixed plant components.
Read: Reward Minerals builds momentum toward key potash milestones this quarter
Reward CEO Lorry Hughes said: “To finally complete the international patent application for the Reward Process is a major milestone for the company and is the culmination of many years work by the technical team led by Dr. Michael Ruane and Mr Warren Hinchliffe.
“Reward is now well positioned at the cutting edge of the developing SOP industry to enable technical and economic solutions to production that can be applied worldwide.”
Next steps
Over the next two quarters Reward will focus on the following key activities:
- Finalisation of the engineering scoping study and determination of the next development activities;
- engagement with solar salt, fertiliser, chemical and seawater desalination companies worldwide to discuss the application of Reward’s technology to potential and proposed SOP developments for possible joint venture participation or acquisition;
- grant of the Carnarvon Potash Project exploration licence; and
- advancement of the Cultural Heritage Management Plan for the KP SOP Project.